Explained: The investigation that led to arrest of Ashley Tellis, Indian-origin strategic expert

Washington’s policy circle is in shock, as the US government arrested renowned international relations scholar and a senior US adviser, Ashley Tellis, on charges of unlawfully retaining classified “national defence information”.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officer Jeffrey Scott has indicated in court filings that 64-year-old Tellis may have passed down documents to People’s Republic of China officials on at least one occasion.

But who exactly is Ashley Tellis? What has he been accused of? And how serious are the charges against him?

The life of Ashley Tellis

Born in 1961 in Mumbai, Ashley Tellis completed his BA and MA in economics from St Xavier’s College. He then moved to the United States for further education — he holds an MA in political science from the University of Chicago as well as a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago.

In the following years, he pursued a career in international relations and diplomacy, which led to his becoming a senior policy analyst at RAND Corporation, an American non-profit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm, and also a professor of policy analysis at the RAND Graduate School. During this time, he authored India’s Emerging Nuclear Posture (RAND, 2001) and co-authored Interpreting China’s Grand Strategy: Past, Present, and Future (RAND, 2000).

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Later, he was commissioned into the US Foreign Service and served as senior adviser to US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill between 2001 and 2003. Moreover, he also served on the National Security Council staff as special assistant to US President George W Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia.

Tellis is credited for being one of the architects of the landmark 2008 US-India civil nuclear agreement during the George W Bush administration. He pushed the deal through, working alongside then Indian diplomats such as S Jaishankar, who is today India’s external affairs minister. The 2008 deal is believed to be a watershed in US-India relations. In 2005, Tellis told the US Congress in testimony that the deal recognises the growing relationship by engaging India, which has proven it is not a nuclear proliferation risk.

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Over the years, he has served under several US presidents, including Bush and Donald Trump, advising on defence, trade, and geopolitical strategy. In fact, in 2017, Tellis was also rumoured to be considered for the next US ambassador to India under Trump’s first tenure in the White House.

Speculation was rife that Trump was close to selecting Tellis to be the next US envoy to India to replace Richard Verma who was appointed US Ambassador to India by outgoing President Barack Obama in 2015.

After leaving government, Tellis remained a respected international relations commentator. He is the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specialising in international security and US foreign and defence policy with a special focus on Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Tellis on India-US ties

As a leading analyst, Tellis has written extensively on nuclear strategy, defence policy and US–India relations. Some of his notable publications include India’s Emerging Nuclear Posture (2001) and Striking Asymmetries: Nuclear Transitions in Southern Asia (2022).

In 2015, speaking to Rediff.com, Tellis was quoted as saying that it was refreshing to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking after then US President Obama’s visit to India for the Republic Day celebrations, he had said: “Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated that he will not let the naysayers either in his own party or in the country get in the way of building a strong partnership with Washington — because that is, in his judgement, fundamentally in India’s own national interest.”

One of his most recent essays was titled “India’s Great-Power Delusions” and was published in Foreign Affairs in late July-early August. In that, he argued that Indian policymakers have their priorities wrong. Instead of pushing for what they call “multipolarity” in the international system, Indian leaders should align more closely with the United States. He further stated that India would be able to fend off China, its far stronger rival in Asia, only with US backing. But it may lose that support if it continues to express scepticism about US leadership and courts US adversaries.

He also commented on the tariff war that Trump initiated against India. In an NDTV interview, he speculated that the US president may have “felt cheated” for not receiving credit for what he claimed was his role in resolving the India-Pakistan crisis in May. “Prime Minister Modi’s call to clarify the situation only seemed to inflame matters rather than resolve them.”

Tellis comes under an investigative cloud

For unexplained reasons, Tellis was placed under FBI surveillance, starting at least October 2022.

Court documents state that the international relations expert has met with government officials of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on multiple occasions over the past several years. In one of his meetings, cited by the FBI in the court documents, Tellis met multiple government officials at a restaurant in Fairfax, Virginia. At the time, he entered the restaurant with a manila envelope and the PRC officials entered the restaurant with a gift bag. At the end of the meal, Tellis did not appear to have the manila envelope in his possession.

The court documents also cite an April 11, 2023 meeting that he had with PRC officials. During that dinner, they could be heard talking about Iranian-Chinese relations and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

Later, on March 19, 2024, Tellis once again dined with PRC officials. After finishing their meal, the group continued conversing and were heard speaking about US-Pakistan relations. And in another dinner, scheduled on September 2, 2025, PRC officials gave Tellis a red gift bag.

Court documents reveal that following his multiple meetings with Chinese officials, the FBI stepped up their surveillance of Tellis.

It is revealed that on September 12, he entered Mark Center, a Department of Defence facility located at 4800 Mark Center Drive at Alexandria, in the state of Virginia. He was then videotaped entering a cubicle in the facility, the FBI states, where a junior colleague had already printed out multiple documents, including one marked “Top Secret”. Later, on September 25, Tellis used the US State Department’s own classified information system to access a file discussing combat aircraft used by adversaries.

Later surveillance, according to court findings, Tellis to be hiding printed pages of classified information among his notepads, and carrying them home.

Charges filed against Tellis

On October 11, 2025, a federal court issued a search warrant authorising the search of Tellis’ house in Virginia. During this exercise, investigators located over a thousand pages of paper documents with classification markings of ‘Top Secret’ and ‘Secret’ at various locations within the house such as a four-drawer locked filing cabinet in a closet in the basement home office, a two-drawer locked filing cabinet in the basement home office area, in the vicinity of a desk in the basement home office area; and in three large black trash bags in an unfinished storage room in the basement.

Based off what they found, Tellis was taken into custody over the weekend with prosecutors alleging that Tellis violated 18 USC § 793(e), which prohibits unauthorised possession or retention of defence-related documents.

US Attorney Lindsey Halligan announced the charges in a press release, stating that the alleged conduct posed “a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens”.

If convicted, Tellis could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 (Rs 2.2 crore), and forfeiture of the materials involved. The Hindu reported that Tellis is free on bond as proceedings continue and as prosecutors prepare for further litigation and any potential trial.

India’s BJP speaks

Reacting to the news of the charges, Amit Malviya, head of BJP’s I-T cell, suggested that Tellis’s past criticisms of the government now take on a new context. “This explains why Ashley Tellis, often cited and celebrated by India’s opposition, spoke so frequently and harshly against us. The forces working against India are beginning to unravel in ways few could have imagined,” he said.

With inputs from agencies